R6: Team #16 ~ License to Read

[Josie]

No problem Gea, hope you're going somewhere nice!

[~Leslie~]

I will say, the one thing it avoided was the TSTL heroine. And her hero was pretty atypical as well. It read like a contemporary pretending to be PNR.

[Samantha]

Ok, sorry for the delay. I've just finished.

Kick-ass Heroine
Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

Date Finished: September 21
Rating:★★★★
Review: Some UF/PNR series I can stand to read as they come out, usually yearly, then there are some authors that I know I have to stop reading until more books come out. Karen Chance is one of those authors. Her books are action-packed and sometimes a bit of dense reading when there's no downtime between deadly scenes. There's always some near-death experience around the corner or some political maneuvering afoot, which is fine, but I definitely want to have the next book handy because I forget the details between books. Dory is a tough heroine who's been through a heck of a lot of stuff and Louis-Cesare is a great partner with a lot of chemistry. I like diving more into Mircea's history and Dorina provides the perfect opportunity to do just that. Overall, it might be nice to see Dory do something else other than fight with mortal injuries or be beaten within an inch of her life, but I'm happy to continue with the series.

[Josie]

Congrats, Samantha!

Shelf day today guys!

[Mandy]

Woo hoo! Shelf, shelf, shelf!

[~Leslie~]

@Samantha - I have several Karen Chance books on my nook I haven't read. Not sure why I've been putting it off. This one sounds good.

[Josie]

Read them, Leslie! As you may have noticed, I am a HUGE fan of the Cassie Palmer and Dorina Basarab series ;)

[Samantha]

I like Chance because she doesn't always take the easy way out with her plots or characters, which can be refreshing in UF(especially with a lot of PNR that masquerades as UF) and makes for some fun storytelling.

[~Leslie~]

Sounds like a good author to try. I have some novellas of hers and Touch the Dark. Not sure what series the novellas are from. Is Touch the Dark Cassie Palmer's series?

[Samantha]

Sure is, Leslie.

[Josie]

Next shelf is up! Favourite author - this is a personal shelf.

[~Leslie~]

Yay!! I love this shelf. I will be reading by Christine Feehan. She is my guilty pleasure. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else will be choosing.

[Mandy]

For "Favorite Author" I'm going to read - I love JD Robb!

[~Leslie~]

@Madndy - Me, too!! I'm only up to #12 however.

[Samantha]

It looks good that those shelves are on either side of our free space square. :)

I will be reading by Juliet Marillier who is one of my very favorite authors. This is a new YA-series for her and even though she normally writes one book/year, this year we're getting two books and within only a few months of each other. Yay!

[Josie]

@Leslie and Mandy: You're making me really want to read the In Death series, both of you have gotten so far in!

@Samantha: I'm very interested in your pick this week, I loved Heart's Blood and Daughter of the Forest, so looking forward to you review. Although with JM, I always feel so exhausted by the end of the book lol!

[Josie]

Right, like Samantha pointed out, Favourite Author is a good shelf for us. However for me, it's not the best since I've read most of the books by my favourite authors (surprise!). But, I do have coming in the post hopefully soon. So I will pick that for favourite author and will read my free space book in the meantime, which will probably be . I've read quite a lot of my library books this week (and they were so long) and have a few more to read before next weekend (if anyone's interested and finishing for tomorrow).

[Kimberly]

Kick Ass Heroine: Friday Night Bites
Finished 23 September (Finally!!)
4 Stars

Once I got over the fact that what bothered me about this book was that it reminded me of Melrose Place, the book got really good.
I was bored with the first 100 pages of the book, but once I powered through, thanks to will power and Starbucks, and started to get into the mystery of who was trying to set everything up, I started to enjoy myself.
I like how everything that has happened up to the end of the book is building upon itself and making the overall storyline come together.
With the way this book ended with Merit’s punishment and Morgan now solidified as a Toad in my book, I have to read the next book sooner rather than later. That and Gabriel sound like a hoot!

[Kimberly]

I think we can get a stamp now!!! YAY TEAM!

For Favorite Author I'm going to read G.A. Aiken's How to Drive a Dragon Crazy.

For the Free Space, I mentioned this but I don't think anyone saw it, but I'm reading Gena Showalter's The Darkest Seduction.

Josie, I read A Discovery of Witches and really liked it. I have the second book but am holding off on reading it because it's long.

[Josie]

Woohoo Kimberly!! Stamp time!
Sorry I missed your free space pick, I'll go update everything now. I'm glad you liked ADoW, it is very long and quite slow which is why I didn't speed through it, will finish it today though :)

Here is our first week:

Week ① (16th September)
Kick Ass Heroine → 6/6 completed
✔ Gea: Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs » 17th Sept ǁ ★★★★
✔ Kimberly: Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill » 23rd Sept ǁ ★★★★
✔ Josie: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons » 18th Sept ǁ ★★★★1/2
✔ Mandy: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones » 18th Sept ǁ ★★★1/2
✔ Samantha: Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance » 21st Sept ǁ ★★★★
✔ Leslie: Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb » 18th Sept ǁ ★★★★★

[~Leslie~]

Yay for Stamp!!! So many books - wow!! Some of you are reading books by authors I've never heard of. I love it. And some are reading old favorites of mine.

Love love Discovery of Witches. I am also waiting to read the next in the series though. And Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite authors as well. I will be reading
in November. Can't wait!

And Kimberly, I just finished What a Dragon Should Want for the dragon challenge I'm in. I go back and forth on this series, but I loved this one.

I've never heard of Juliet Marillier until the other day. What kind of stuff does she write?

[Josie]

I haven't read Friday Harbor series yet, is it as good as her other ones (I've read Hathaways, Wallflowers and a Travis book, I loved them all)?

DoW is taking me a long time, technically I started it over a month ago but took a long break. I think it's a bit slow for me but maybe the climax will be exciting!

Juliet Marillier writes fantasy books. The ones that I've read have been set in Ireland and have a historical feel to them, full of myths. Some are kind of retold fairy tales so Daughter of the Forest is based on 'The Six Swans'/'The Wild Swans', Heart's Blood is based on 'Beauty and the Beast' and Wildwood Dancing is a mix of 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' and 'The Frog Prince' :)

[~Leslie~]

Josie, I've also read everything she's written, and I really like her Friday Harbor series. It's a little different from her other work, but every bit as good. Start with Friday Harbor short

Okay, you totally intrigued me with Juliet Marillier. I am a fairy tale fanatic and one of favorite genres is historical paranormal/fantasy - it mixes the two genres I love best! I will definitely be looking into her books.

[Josie]

Thanks will do! For some reason I was a bit apprehensive about the FH series but you have convinced me to give it a go :D

Oohh, I love fairy tales as well! You know, it's reminded me that I need to read more Juliet Marillier books, I should definitely try to fit another one in soon :)

[~Leslie~]

I know some Kleypas fans haven't liked it but I think it's just because it feels different. But she's one of those authors for me - she could write the back of a cereal box and I would like it.

[Josie]

Yeah maybe that's why I was reluctant - I think I had read something like that but I'm going to trust her! She's a great writer :)

Do you prefer her contemporaries or historicals?

[~Leslie~]

When I first started reading her I was only reading historical romance (for the most part) and I was so enthralled with books. They were so fresh and different. Then I read one Blue-Eyed Devil and it was one of the first contemporary romances I read and I loved it, too.
So I love all her work but I think her HR books will always stand out for me. I think they took the genre in a whole new path.

[~Leslie~]

Shelf: Favorite Author (personal shelf)
9/24/12 **** stars

Number four in the Carpathian series finally gives Gregorio his mate. Savannah is the daughter of the Prince and his human wife Raven. Gregorio marked her when Raven was pregnant in order to save himself from turning Vampire. At the beginning of the story, Savannah is 23 and is living on her own and working as a magician/illusionist. Gregorio can no longer hold on and must claim her. This is quite an age difference! I really love this story - watching Gregorio deal with her is pretty funny and the storyline about the vampire hunters is much stronger in this one as well. All the typical Christine Feehan trademarks are alive and well in this one, however. So it's either love them or hate them. I happen to love them and the only challenge I had was the story bogged down a little about 3/4 of the way through with the introduction of a human character and a trip to New Orleans. This is obviously a new path for the series and the next Carpathian storyline was introduced. But other than that, great story!

[Gea]

I'm back and I will read for this week's shelf. I used to read this author a lot but it's been a while since I've read anything from her.

[~Leslie~]

Welcome back, Gea! And I absolutely love Julie Garwood. Happy reading!!

[Josie]

Hey Gea, hope you had a lovely weekend. I also really like Julie Garwood!

Yay, speedy Leslie :D

[Mandy]

Finished
Shelf: Favorite Author
Read: 9/24/12
Rating: 4 stars

I loved the JD Robb story - I am such an Eve and Roarke fan that even the short stories rock. In this one, the killer makes like a vampire (view spoiler)[ - leading to a fantastic line where Eve tells Roarke soemthing along the lines of "I told him to "Bite me" and he took me literally. As always, her instincts lead right to the killer and she fights some of her past on the way to solving the crime. Love these two! (hide spoiler)] I also enjoyed the other stories in the anthology - two time travel romances and one "road not taken" story that all led to happy endings.

[Josie]

Well done, Mandy! I'm so pleased that after all those In Death books that you're still loving them.

Ok, I have FINALLY finished DoW so I can now go onto my Free Space. I just got exciting news yesterday that Fury's Kiss is on its way so whichever book (this or Then Came You) reaches me first will be my fave author one :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

LOL. My Fury's Kiss got posted yesterday ;)

Already impatiently tapping my foot!!

[Josie]

Oh Sandra, it's going to be magic when the postman delivers it! Will you be reading it straight away?

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yep!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished my re-read of the first 2 in prep for it ;)

[Josie]

I didn't have time for a re-read but I do regularly go through and read my fave scenes (is that weird?). Fingers crossed that today IS the day, postman comes in the next 3-4 hours ;)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, License to Read!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'kick-ass-heroine'. 

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Licensees!

And thats weird Josie cause I responded to #137 and its not here?????

I said something like: Its not weird at all, I do it all the time. Sometimes thats enough, sometimes you have to read the whole thing :D

[Samantha]

Thanks, Steph!

Yup, Leslie, exactly what Josie said. Marillier does write a lot of fairytale retellings, but her Sevenwater series also continues on with her own unique spin. I think we're on #6 which will be released this year and the main characters are now the grandchildren of the original characters so it's spanned quite a nice chunk of time. She also writes YA with her Wildwood books and the second in that series is one of my very favorite books.
I like Kleypas, too! I agree with you about her writing being a game-changer for Historical Romances.

Yay for Fury's Kiss, Josie. I'll keep my fingers crossed that is comes in the mail today.

Gea, I'm also a fan of Garwood, although I haven't had a chance to read all of her work. My fave from her was The Secret. I'll looking to see what you think of that one.

Congrats on finishing, Mandy! That was quick. :)

[Gea]

Favourite Author
Book: Shadow Music

Rating: ★★★★
Finished: 25-Sep-12
Review: Julie Garwood books were my first introduction in Highlands and up to today I haven't found an author that made better Highlanders.
I thought the book was a bit slow at beginning and it only captivated me around the middle. It was a nice historical romance and a good reminder why Julie Garwood is still my favorite HR author. I still have a few of her books to read and Shadow Music was a good start in that direction.

[Gea]

Congratulations to all of us for our first stamp! :)

Josie I do the same thing with my favorite books when I want to remember the parts I liked most it's easier than re-reading the entire book. Of course if the books was very good I re-read it at least once :) I don't own that many books but those I do have been read at least three times each!

Samantha, Julie Garwood was a second HR author that was translated in Slovene about 4-5 years ago (the first one was Amanda Quick) and I fell in love with her writing almost immediately. My favorite remains the first book I've read and that's The Gift (because our publishing houses don't check if the book they are translating are part of series or not and just translate in random order). The Secret is my favorite from Highlands' Lairds series but The Wedding is her best book about Highlands. I think I've read it at least four times since I received it as a birthday gift as soon it was released!

[~Leslie~]

I have to say that I think the best Julie Garwood Highlander book is though comes a close second!! I love her historical fiction and her contemporary romantic suspense. I've read almost everything she's written and I think it's all good.
But my favorite author for Highlander stories is hands down Monica McCarty. Her Highland Guard series is amazing. Her research is solid, the stories are amazing and the sex is steamy. What more could you ask. The first one is

[Josie]

Thanks Steph and Sandra! Naughty goodreads, Sandra ;)

FK didn't come but tomorrow is another day lol!

Yay Gea! Great review, love Julie Garwood - glad it's another great book from her :)

Review to come for my free space.

[Josie]

Title/Author: Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur
Date finished: 25th September
Rating: ★★★1/2
Review:
This was a quick read (well that's probably relative after the recent ones I been reading) and I enjoyed it for the most part. I liked Riley and I liked the storyline, carrying on from the last two books. The pace is always moving and there is lots of action and cool fight scenes.
That said, she is naked the WHOLE book (and that is not an exaggeration - she really is) and I know that she "needs" sex with a lot of men due to her wolf but I'm not sure Quinn is so unreasonable because he asks her to only see one person (i.e. him). Not that Quinn is my fave person but still. Though I do really respect Riley for being straight with him and not giving up her dream of being with one mate and having children.
Anyway intrigued with where the series is going to head next :)

[Samantha]

Okay, done!

Favorite Author
Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Date Finished: September 26
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Review: Thank you again, Juliet Marillier. There is a reason that I know I can count on you as an author. I'm consistently able to invest my time and emotions with your characters and story and in the end I'm very richly rewarded indeed. YA can be a difficult genre to write, but I find labels to be kind of useless when I'm reading your books, because no matter what you hit the right notes. Neryn is a wonderful new heroine and even in her less flattering moments it's something she can reflect and grow from in the end. I'll begrudgingly admit that some parts were a bit slow at the beginning, but I really warmed up to these characters and the new world you've created. All in all I loved this one (the last few pages just left me in a puddle, more Flint, please) and I can't wait to read more.


Yay, now onto my free space hopefully before next week. :)

[Josie]

So great that you enjoyed it, Samantha! It's definitely going onto my to-read shelf now :)
Have you read The Bridei Chronicles? I think my library has it but I'm just wondering if it is as good as Sevenwaters etc.

[Samantha]

Actually I haven't, oddly enough. I've read her Sevenwaters series and her other YA books, but I haven't gotten to that one or the Norse duology she's written starting with Wolfskin. I think they're on my shelves somewhere...

[Vi]

Josie, The Bridei Chronicles are as good as Sevenwaters. Different lines of course but I remember rushing to the library after I read the first book to get the next two. You definitely should try it. And I can't wait for the next Sevenwaters book.

[Josie]

Thanks, Vi! I love when you get hooked in a series, I'll go check them out next time I'm at the library. I also really want to read Wildwood Dancing